


Kim Seungmin Vs. The World

by la_sazu, orphan_account



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bakery, Drama, Fluff, Jealousy, M/M, Mutual Pining, Romance, Romantic Comedy, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:33:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26254207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/la_sazu/pseuds/la_sazu, https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: 10 years after the events of WTHIYPKS, Seungmin and Hyunjin meet again when Hyunjin rescues Seungmin from a torrential downpour at 1 AM.The fix-it fic nobody asked for, nobody made, and yet here it exists.
Relationships: Han Jisung | Han/Seo Changbin, Hwang Hyunjin/Kim Seungmin
Comments: 9
Kudos: 10





	1. In The Last 10 Years

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [What The Hell Is Your Problem, Kim Seungmin!?](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15809919) by [orphan_account](https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account). 



Kim Seungmin was 16 when he went through... well whatever the hell that was. Jisung’s rather worrying fixation on big anime tiddies... A pivotal year, truly, for adolescent boys who don’t quite fully understand the world in its machinations just yet. That was the year Lee Minho and Seo Changbin somehow squeezed their boisterous selves into his life. The year a certain sniveling rat of a rival declared his love war with him. The year he confessed to Lee Felix and actually won the love war (haha fuck u Jeongin). The year he left Hwang Hyunjin too, heartbroken and confused. 

To be fair, Seungmin himself was very much confused too. He’ll say it once; he’ll say it again: Hwang Hyunjin is the last person in school, no in their coastal city, hell even in the whole goddamning Korea, whom he expected would have fallen for him. 

He’d much sooner believe someone telling him he’s become a kpop idol.

Kim Seungmin is 18 and he’s a hell of a lot more confused in university. Forget basic math, this dumbass couldn’t even identify derivatives. He spends the rose-colored years of university running to catch up, and so his university life ends up being… not very rose-colored at all. He lives in an apartment with Jisung and, he can’t believe he’s saying this,  _ thankfully _ , Woojin who not only has 2 years of experience living in Seoul but is also a Very Capable Human Being who can cook and do laundry. Had it only been him and Jisung... Seungmin shudders at the thought. 

Seunglix is going very strong, thank you for asking. They are here to make this high school sweethearts thing  _ work _ . They were not voted the cutest couple in high school for nothing.

Seungmin still daydreams, still has the little poet heart in him. He’s studying business management though, for the little bakery he’s trying to open with his mom. Sometimes he wonders if life would have been easier if he took something more liberal artsy.

Seungmin is 20 when he amicably breaks up with Felix. The distance became... too much. Lee Felix moved away to Australia for some studies on a foreign exchange program (Seungmin would have made a joke about him not being a foreigner but was too afraid to dare given the proximity to their breakup. also when is a good time to start joking around with your ex?). 

They throw a party and it’s sort of a mini reunion from 4 years ago. Yang Jeongin had the audacity to show up. (“He was invited!” Jisung reasons. “He was invited?” Seungmin counters.) Changbin came in from Busan looking very tired but somehow still familiar all the same. Minho was also able to come from his police training, bringing along Mina who was in the area. Dahyun managed a quick hello and a couple of drinks. Even Woojin was there, mostly to watch out for his brother and his disaster twin hurricane. Felix waved off every attempt to put him in the spotlight. They all went their separate ways, mostly; this was just a nice excuse for the gang to get back together. He’ll be back soon, he promised and the glow in his eyes made Seungmin ache for him in a flash. But it was gone soon, too soon to really internalize what the ache really was.

In the end, aches of the heart don’t matter; Felix left 3 days later and Seungmin learned to let go of Felix and his relationship. They started messaging and video chatting, rebuilding some semblance of a friendship with his ex, and according to Woojin, that was awfully mature of him.

Seungmin is 22 and his mom superstitiously consults with a fortune teller who predicts success in his work but continuous bad luck in love. Seungmin scolds his mother for having her money cheated off of her so easily until his poetry blog suddenly racked up tons of clicks and now he’s getting some money on the side while all his blind dates seem to fail and he learns to keep his goddamn mouth shut.

Seungmin is 24 and he’s lonely. Jisung, in a loving committed relationship with Changbin of all people, snidely tells him to get on dating apps. He would not stoop so low.

(Well, he did try it out, the whole dating shebang, but he seemed to have a certain type, one who was definitely, most certainly unlike Lee Felix, and that scared and confused him more than it should and he decided to scrap the whole idea away and never think about anything ever again.)

Seungmin is 26 when his little bakery passes it’s one year mark and he’s finally content with what he’s worked hard on. The bakery is thriving. Seungmin gets a bit carried away ruling the bakery with his iron fist and every part timer simply couldn't live up to his expectations, which is a source of great ridicule from his friends, but he doesn’t mind much. He’s a bit of a control freak when it comes to his itty bitty baby bakery and he's okay with that. It gets a bit tiring, admittedly, making new dough for the next day, checking inventory, scheduling market visits, accounting for pay, utilities, and such all on his own sometimes, but he’s always without a doubt tiredly happy at the end of the day, even when he has to close up shop at 1 AM to open at 6 AM. 

There’s nothing that he would have done differently, he thinks happily as he locks down the shop and turns off the lights.

When he steps outside though, he muses, well there is one thing…

If he could go back…

It would, most probably be…

To that very morning…

His blind foolish self, stepping out of the house for a new day…

When he decided not to bring an umbrella to work because the weather seemed fine and he always seemed to bring an umbrella needlessly. And yet, here he is, outside at ass crack o clock. Trapped in the slim safe space between the increasingly wet sidewalk and the safe front door of his bakery…

And it’s straight up pouring.

What the hell is your problem, Kim Seungmin?!


	2. Kim Seungmin Vs. The Storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The ways typhoon seasons seem to further the romantic agendas at play here.

Seungmin looks to the sky, despairing over his ill luck. Because really, this was his life? As if having to fire a part timer today, deal with angry ahjummas and messing up a batch of muffins he wanted to start selling wasn't enough, he’d most probably catch a cold in this weather. He’s old, now, and maybe a few years ago, he would have wanted to get sick to escape responsibilities. Now, it’s just a nuisance to have to be sick and to still cater to said responsibilities.

Being an adult sure is hard. 

Seungmin examines the options laid out before him. 

1.. Call Jisung. The bachelor has way too much free time as a game developer anyway. He retained the same sleeping schedule of 3 AM to 10 AM that he had since high school. Surely, the guy is still up. If he wasn’t an otaku doing otaku things at 1 AM, he simply wasn’t Jisung and needed to be shot because that’s an alien clone, sir.

Seungmin calls him and after a few rings, he hears the ringing stop, a click, and Jisung’s voice. “Hello.”

“Hey, Sorry. Did I wake you up?” Seungmin perks up.

“Yes, speaking.”

“What?” Now, Seungmin’s confused. Maybe Jisung is not so coherent at night, after all. “Anyway, can you pick me up? Forgot to bring an umbrella.”

“Oh. Yeah, sure, man.”

Seungmin sags in relief. “Alright, thanks”

“Where did you say you were at again?”

“I’m just in the bakery.” He gets comfortable sitting on a dry chair. His stomach protests so he quickly adds, "Do you mind bringing a snack or something. I'm starving too." Well, it would probably take Jisung about 15 minutes to walk here, he reasons, might as well take a nap. He was just about to end the call when he heard Jisung speak up again.

“Wait, just kidding, this is a really long automated message. Leave your message afte-” The dial tone rings, indicating that, indeed, Seungmin has been tricked, hoodwinked, and quite possibly, bamboozled. He almost throws his phone in frustration. Well, so much for the 15 minute wait nap. God, he’ll kill Jisung tomorrow. 

This leaves him with Option B:

2\. Call Literally Anyone Else

Except the problem with this is that there is no one else to call. All his friends were either out of town or responsible human beings with a life of responsibilities to answer to in the morning. Really, a 10 minute walk in the rain would be too minor a problem to make anyone haul ass to him at this time. His mom is way too old to have her beauty sleep interrupted. Those crows feet. Poor her. Woojin is still in Seoul, doing Responsible Human Things, and is probably asleep at this time. Even if Woojin was in town, he simply wouldn’t get up for him. Screw life. This would all be solved if Seungmin just had a significant other. Well, whatever. The Hypothetical Lover is of no use now. 

And so, Option C:

3\. Find an umbrella

Given that there were no umbrellas around, otherwise the search would have been a few minutes shorter than it already has been, Seungmin sets to work, momentarily looking around for a makeshift umbrella to use. At least he could shield himself, just a little bit, to the now-strengthening typhoon. 

Alas, the outside of the bakery is only sparsely decorated. There are a couple of matching black metal chairs and tables on the veranda and an umbrella stand beside the door. No umbrellas. 

He checks the bushes nearby in case someone threw at least a plastic bag or something, but nothing came up from that search either. Man, it sure does suck that people don't litter anymore. Should he just use the welcome mat? (Gross) One of the potted plants? (What if it dies?) 

Seungmin, after a 10 min deliberation- which was really 9 minutes making a poem and posting it on his blog and 1 minute dejectedly looking at his sad "umbrellas"- took another option.

4\. Just do it.

This whole thinking things through thing is taking too long and Seungmin is impatient for the warm water and food at home. Seungmin tries to calculate the distance between where he was and his next destination: a tree a 100 meters away. From there, he could take a break, find some new shade down the road and aim for it too. A walk would probably take 10 minutes? He'll get there in half of it, he challenges himself.

Before Seungmin could so much as tie his working shoes up, in case they loosen and trip him up in the middle of the rain (yes, it has happened before), lightning streaked, thunder shook, and somebody tapped him on the back.

"Good evening." A voice shocks him and he lets out an embarrassingly high pitched "eep!"

His heart raced fast, pumping loud and quickly. He clutched his chest "God, don- don't scare me like that!". Seungmin turns around to be greeted by the sight of one Hwang Hyunjin.

Hwang Hyunjin?

Seungmin hasn't seen the guy in literal years! A decade, a certain faded voice in his head adds. Wow, and he looks great? Eyes full of mirth and staring down at him pointedly. Their height difference hasn't significantly changed, but it hurt his heart to know that Seungmin hasn't grown a millimeter since he was 18 and the guy- no, man- in front of him definitely has, with a sharper jawline and broader shoulders to boot.

"Errr.. Good evening," he replies, and eases himself to look more comfortably at his old friend(????) "How's it going?" Seungmin notices the large traveling rolling bag that the taller man is sporting. "Going somewhere?"

"I’m good. Good," he replies, ignoring quite splendidly Seungmin's latter question and the visceral awkwardness of seeing your ex on the street for the first time in the decade since you broke up. "You're not looking too hot." 

Seungmin wants to eviscerate himself for feeling the tiniest bit self-conscious at the thought of Hyunjin not thinking he's attractive when Hyunjin's good looks has only grown exponentially since getting past puberty. It’s not like they know each other; people can change a lot in a year, much more 10 of those. He wasn’t even commenting on his looks! He chides himself, it’s a saying! 

He also has the distinct desire to tell Hyunjin something along the lines of "Oh, but you are" to answer his question but settles for a nervous laugh and "Nah, forgot my umbrella this morning."

"Well," Hyunjin starts, angling the umbrella rested on his arm so that it sits over the both of them now, "there's one right here." 

(Seungmin would say that his heart absolutely did NOT skip a beat.)

Hyunjin takes another step, closer towards him now, and he smells good, like old books and something fresh. The light hit him just right as he approached, and the shiny locks framing his hair bounced-  _ bounced! _ \- when he tilts his head questioningly. If Hyunjin were an anime boy, he would be Howl Pendragon, long-haired and shiny. The resemblance was uncanny. 

(but he would be a liar.)

“N-no. I’m alright.” he stammers out. 

“Really? You look like you were going to run for it.” When he said that last word, lightning struck, literally just a street over, and shocked Seungmin so bad that he instinctively grabbed Hyunjin’s sleeve for support. Oh wow, this is typical shoujo manga behavior, like the manga he was reading currently. Alas, he was no bright-eyed kawaii high school girl but a 20-something needlessly tired dumbass. 

“I was…” he starts shyly, “ but the run going home is pretty quick anyway. I could make it in about 5 minutes.”

“Well, come on, I can walk you home. I take it you live in the same place still?” he starts as they begin walking. Seungmin’s shoulder brushes against the taller’s and he swears his shoulder burns at the brief contact. Their proximity makes him shyer. Thunder rumbles, sounding suspiciously like it’s growling:  _ speak words, fool _ , and lightning flashed, as if threatening to strike down if he doesn’t break the awkward tension.

“You’re staying in town?” He blurts out the first thing that comes to mind. He was sure Hyunjin moved to Seoul too, except he lived in Gangnam or Pyeongchang-dong or wherever rich families stayed in Seoul. 

“Yeah,” he replies, surprised, “I just got here tonight and wanted to walk around here to see how much has changed. Must have lost track of time before I ended up on your street” 

Ah. Well that cleared up a few questions he had.

“Cool, cool. What brought you back?” Seungmin was looking straight ahead, desperately trying not to wet his shoes too much on the growing puddles littered around the sidewalk. If he did look up at Hyunjin, he would have noticed how Hyunjin shifted slightly, almost imperceptibly at the question.

“Just a break from work,” he replies after a moment’s hesitation, “My older brother came back recently so my parents asked me to come home as well.”

“How are they?” Seungmin asks, because he literally has no idea what to say to that.

“Good.” And they both lapsed into silence again. 

God, this was hard. Curse Hyunjin for being so attractive that his tongue feels like lead and his brain revved up the perception to 100, because all he can feel is Hyunjin right beside him, the awkward tension in the air and, the rain hitting him at the back of his neck so unpleasantly.

“So-”

“You-”

“What?” Hyunjin startles.

“No, uhhhh never mind.” Seungmin replies, “what were you going to say?”

“Oh yeah, no, I was just wondering what you were doing out so late.”

“Me? I had to fire the part timer today so I just did some of his extra work.”

“You- That’s where you work now?”

“Yeah, it’s Kim’s bakery. Mom and I own it. You can come around sometime if you need a snack. Mom makes the most delicious milk breads.”

They continue on like this, talking about small menial things, until Hyunjin stops abruptly. Seungmin takes his eyes off the wet pavement that he was eyeing the entire walk home and looked up to Hyunjin’s dark, dark eyes. They’re so… nice. Seungmin doesn’t know if it’s the lack of sleep talking but he could practically feel chocolate pudding, nice soft hair carded through his fingers, and a softer state of mind just by looking into his eyes.

“We’re here.” Seungmin tears his gaze away from Hyunjin’s and sees that indeed, he’s reached home. 

He checks the time on his phone and the sudden brightness it emits makes him wince in discomfort. 1:40 AM. Great. He could maybe sneak in 4 hours if he took the fastest bath to exist and skipped the night routine. Just the thought of a nice warm bath where he may accidentally fall asleep in comfort made trembles run down his spine. Mentally, he was already checking out of reality and into the dream-like liminal space of a damn good bath in the middle of the night. Err, or well, early morning, he supposed. 

There’s another tap on his shoulder and he realises that Hyunjin was still within the vicinity. “This  _ is _ your place, right?” Hyunjin asks hesitantly. Seungmin realized that Hyunjin was looking at him not for the sole and simple reason of wanting to look at him, but rather wanted to confirm with the owner of the house if they’ve arrived at the correct place.

“Oh yeah!” he replies quickly, a little embarrassed at his very gay thoughts, “thanks for, uhhh, walking me home.” He goes to lean on the fence in a pseudo-suave manner but the fence had a cat, a large, black, and particularly yowly cat. Just the feel of its fur made Seungmin trip in surprise and crash land on his large garbage bin parked nearby for collection of trash later in the morning. He tries to grab onto something, anything, but only grasps the top of the trash bin already falling down with him. The clanging of the trash bin falling was so loud, Seungmin’s sure every neighbor heard it despite the still torrential rains pouring down. 

There he sat, getting much wetter than before, Hyunjin standing shell-shocked at the disaster performance Seungmin’s limbs offered, and obviously never living down this moment.

This was embarrassing. Absolutely humiliating.

Hyunjin’s body seemed to belatedly catch up with what happened and quickly tried to help him up. 

“Are you alright?”

Nope. No. This is my first time meeting you in 10 years and I’m making the most horrible second impression. Screw second chances and romantic scenarios, this is too weird to live down.

“Oh God, yeah I’m alright.” Seungmin wanted out of this scene as quickly as possible. Okay, so Mission Objective: Get Home was on. “It’s nice seeing you again but I- uh- I gotta go now.” Seungmin gets up and backtracks, still under the pouring rain and looking as crazy as ever. “Thanks for everything!” he gestures at the umbrella, “and for the walk. It’s nice to catch up again.”

“Wh-” Not even Hyunjin speaking up would deter Seungmin from his tactical retreat.

“So anyway, hope to see you around soon! You go have fun seeing your parents, or something that you guys do. As a family.” Seungmin carries on. By now, Seungmin’s reached the door and unlocked it without taking his eyes off of Hyunjin. He was immobilized at Seungmin’s rapid fire talking and quick escape. Seungmin’s last glimpse of the man was exactly how he looked when he fell. 

Seungmin slammed the door shut and sank to the floor in shame. Well, that was tiring as hell. He sniffed himself. And he needed a bath.

Maybe, after a cleanse, some nice clean clothes, a cup of water, just maybe he’ll feel better. Maybe forget what happened.

Then Seungmin remembers how many times he’s embarrassed himself in front of Hyunjin, just one mistake devolving into another messier mistake. The way Hyunjin might see him as this for the rest of his life. It’s not like Hyunjin would spread it around, Seungmin thinks he’s just not that type of guy. And he’s a klutz, all his friends know it.  _ Felix  _ knows it as an absolute truth, and he’s all the way in Australia right now. Seungmin’s lost all sense of dignity and pride at the age of 23 when he realised that adults know jack shit and nothing matters. (Nihilism? Very kewl kyaa) So why Hyunjin? Why is the thought of Hyunjin seeing him like this so mortifying?

Seungmin hardly slept that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second chapter!! I have no idea how to write, that first one I made was created in a fit of strange inspiration and frustration at the ending of WTHIYPKS. To the people who read the first chapter even though it is a bit short, thank you for reading. if you're reading this second chapter, thanks for sticking around so far. From now on, I'll be uploading every Wednesday/Thursday and I'm saying this here so that now I have to hold myself liable and keep writing. My writing is very clunky so if anyone who has read this has any criticism, please feel free to comment. There's also the issue of Woojin, whom I gave quite a prominent role in the draft I made for this, but that was when I still had such fond memories of him. I'm not so sure now if I should keep with the same plotline that included him now that I know what he has done. Any thoughts? Anyway, thank you and see you next week :)

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is the first fan fiction I have ever written but I read WTHIWWYKS, got shocked at the ending, realised I read it on it's birthday, and made this first chapter on a whim. I will probably make many mistakes since I'm new so any criticism is appreciated. This exists merely to satisfy the bitin (idk the english word for it) feeling when I read the end. I'm not a native speaker either so excuse those mistakes hehe.


End file.
